Beth Winter (Diane Keaton) rescues a lost dog from the side of a road. Her husband Joseph (Kevin Kline) is a self-important surgeon. Beth brings the dog Freeway home and her daughter Grace (Elisabeth Moss) falls for the vet. At Grace's wedding in the mountains, their nephew Bryan (Mark Duplass) develops a crush on Carmen (Ayelet Zurer) who runs the place. Joseph's sister Penny (Dianne Wiest) has a new boyfriend Russell (Richard Jenkins) who is using her money to start a pub. Joseph carelessly loses the dog in the woods. It sets off a big search for Freeway.

I'm not sure if the stakes are high enough here. It's a bunch of family members with minor issues looking for a dog. It's not like the audience grows to love the dog. It's more of an excuse for each family member to work out their issues. Lawrence Kasdan and his wife have created the lightest and mildest of family drama. The great cast of actor showed up to play but the writing is not up to the task.

You have to have a heart for animals to be able to watch this and really enjoy it. There is some eye candy for male viewers (though her story line tries to go beyond that and the actress carries that weight effortlessly), but it's Diane Keaton, the Dog and Kevin Kline (in that order), that really hold the movie together.

Substories and romantic interludes, marriage problems, but also the absurd (superstituous) are being handled decently. It still might feel a bit too much for some viewers though. Kline just about holds his own in a very slim outlined character outlet, that he has to work with. Clichés abound and an ending that is so over the top (literally), that you'll probably cry (for better or worse).